Last of the Wilds
by rifflegirl93
Summary: Last of the Wilds was inspired by Nightwish's song of the same name, so it helps if you listen to that while reading to get a good feel for the story... I hate the fact that JKR tried sinking our beloved ship in more ways than one, but this is a post-HBP


**Last of the Wilds **

Minerva McGonagall glided down the grand staircase in the entrance hall. Harry, Ron, and Hermione noticed that there was something different about their transfiguration professor. Her pace was brisk, her expression a mix of sorrow and anger. She passed them and others without even acknowledging their presence. Her mind was focused on him. The man she needed more than ever right now. The man she had loved and lost. She pushed the huge doors of the school open, going outside into a nasty storm. That didn't stop her from completing her mission. She had to be near him, even though he was dead. She transformed into her animagus form, and took off in the pouring rain. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were now very worried for their professor after seeing the silver tabby cat take off, running as fast as she could go. They decided to follow her, even though all three knew where she was going. They started running after her, trying to beat her there so they could help her. Hermione was the only one out of the three who noticed the cat's rounder, fuller belly. She thought about how skinny the professor had gotten since her lover's death, how she barely ate anything at all, how her robes were loose enough now to accommodate a slightly protruding stomach despite how thin she was, and how her outer robes enveloped her like a shell, hiding her from the prying eyes of her friends so they wouldn't notice her condition. Hermione despaired more for her professor knowing now that there were 2 lives at stake instead of just one. They kept running, meanwhile, Minerva's mind was racing with thought and emotion. Thoughts of him, her unborn child, the school, her students, her new-found responsibilities, her emotions, and her fears of what was to come all came flashed through her mind as she ran toward the stone crypt. She was soaking wet when she stopped at the grave. The trio surreptitiously following her hid behind a tree, and watched their beloved professor change from her animagus form. They saw the emotion on her face as she walked toward the structure, and place a hand on the cold wet stone.

Tears started to fall down Minerva's cheeks as she read the inscription on the grave, thinking about what it should have said. She wished that they could have let everyone know that they were married, that they had been in love since she first started teaching there. She wished she had seen the signs earlier, she wished that she would have found out that they were going to be parents earlier. She place her other hand over her swollen belly. It was then that Harry and Ron realized what Hermione had figured out minutes before. They looked to Hermione in awe to see her reaction, only to be met with a sad but knowing look. They knew that Hermione had figured it out already. They turned to their professor to watch her once more. Each of them looking upon the woman with the deepest sympathy and regret. Harry thought back to all the private meetings he had with Professor Dumbledore. He thought back to all the times he had seen Dumbledore and McGonagall together. They always put on the perfect facade of a strictly professional friendship. Harry had long suspected something more between the two, growing more when he saw them dancing with each other on the night of the Yule Ball in his fourth year. She was a different person in his arms. He was a different person when he was with her. She seemed like she was off on Cloud 9 when they danced that night. Her usual regal sterness melted away when he led her onto the dance floor, replaced by a kind of giddiness. As if anyone dared to describe Minerva McGonagall as giddy. All three knew why the two professors didn't want their love for each other to be known. With the ever increasing threat of Lord Voldemort, the ever corrupting Ministry of Magic, and the potential for propaganda from the media, the risk was just too great. It was better to love each other in secret than to have their lives ruined by the cruel outside world.

Minerva wept, kneeling against the cold stone tomb of her lover. Tears started to escape from Hermione's eyes as she watched her professor in sorrow. As Hermione cried, Ron tried to sneak over to her to comfort her. As he did, he stepped on a twig, making it snap. Minerva, startled by the sound, immediately reverted to her animagus form and tried to run into the forest. Not looking where she was going, she ran straight into Hermione's hiding spot. Hermione snatched the cat up without thinking. Minerva didn't even realize what had happened until she was picked up off the ground and felt the warmth of Hermione's embrace.

Minerva tried to squirm out of Hermione's hold on her. She wanted to run away and hide. She was a Gryffindor true and proud, but she couldn't let her cubs see her like this. Especially Harry. She couldn't let her weakness show. She had to be strong for her cubs. Her cubs were her children. She loved them the same as she did the child growing inside of her. She felt two hands stroking her, realizing it was Harry and Ron trying to comfort her. She decided it would be best if she changed back to her human self. She let out a contented purr, prompting Hermione to let her down. Hermione set her on the ground and Minerva changed back into her human form. The trio hugged their professor as she knelt down by the grave again. Their warmth penetrated the chill of her sopping wet robes, helping her think more clearly. She realized that her child would come into a world filled with love and happiness. She stood up, paid her respects to the grave and walked away with the trio. She decided that it was time for them to know the real story behind her and Dumbledore. They walked back to the castle, changed into some drier clothes, and met back in Dumbledore's study. There she told the trio the truth of her and Dumbledore. How they had been in love, how they had been secretly married, and how she was pregnant with their child. She told them the truth knowing she could trust them. She told them the truth because she thought they had the right to know. Albus would have wanted it this way. Albus wouldn't want to have to hide his own child from people so dear whom he considered his own children. They needed to know. The trio understood and supported their teacher completely. The mighty lioness had her cubs to help her. They were her family. They were their family.

Epilogue...

The trio walked into the hospital wing following Madam Pomfrey. She led them over to a secluded area of the wing, hidden by a privacy partition. Behind the curtain, they saw their beloved professor holding a newborn baby girl. She told them with a broad smile that the baby's name was Kendra Ariana, after Albus's mother and sister. After Harry, Hermione, and Ron got to hold Kendra, Minerva told them that they were Kendra's godparents. The trio accepted the honor with the knowledge that their teacher loved and trusted them. They would teach Kendra all there was to know about the wizarding world and her father, confident in knowing that this is the way that Albus Dumbledore would have wanted to see his family.


End file.
